Days after slipping past The Liberals and PCs in popularity polls, the NL NDP held its 2016 convention, where a 91.6% vote of confidence agreed to keep Earle McCurdy as party leader.  Mark Gruchy was elected as party president.

Here is the full list of executive members:
President: Mark Gruchy
Associate President: Alison Coffin
Associate President (Labour): Bert Blundon
Treasurer: Angela Drake
Secretary: Paul Rowe
Membership Secretary: Jeanne Clarke
Federal Liaison: Mona Rossiter
Members at Large: Mary Kelsey, Sean Panting, and Tim Peckford
Regional Representatives: Fabian Benoit, Kathleen Burt, Adam Case, Julie Mitchell, Lukas Norman
Youth Representative: Cameron Mercer-Maillet
NL Federation of Labour Reps: Bill Hynd & Susan Shiner

A representative of the NL NDP women’s caucus and a representative to the NDP of Canada Women’s Council will be elected at a future date. McCurdy says he would have stepped down as leader had the vote of confidence been less than 70%. Having gotten a 91.6% show of support he’s officially in as leader, but still lacks a seat in the HoA.

McCurdy spent much of his victory speech lacing into the Liberals, in particular for “turning its back on” rural communities and being “inept” in general. McCurdy sees building support with rural communities as the NDP’s next step in securing their future governance of NL.

His plan for the summer is to travel the island and get people more engaged with local politics, while spreading the message of the NDP being the only alternative to The Liberals who “bamboozled us” and PCs who he blames for our current economic woes.